I've Got Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

The more I play around with fashion, the more I realize I dress to the mood I aspire to be.

My mood from this evening was probably more accurately portrayed by the angry rain clouds in the background of these photos, taken at Paskorz Berry Farm last week. I know stressful situations are probably amplified by my moodiness. I blame my astrological sign.

Cary was sweet enough to take these for me. (He also let me steal these shots a few weeks ago.)

To cheer up my mood, I thought some crazy brights, like this yellow dress and sunflower shoes, could help me out. It helped, at least a little bit. I think all of the berries I ate while picking on this particular night helped, too. They're full of antioxidants, right?

In fact, some of the berries I picked from this night went into this blueberry zucchini bread I made.

And another fashion rule I'm learning: That stupid fashion rules are meant to be broken. OK, so primary colors aren't supposed to go together, but I think they work here. The textures of the yellow and denim are different enough. And it was cold. There.

Outfit: Dress and Jacket, H&M; Shoes, American Apparel; Ring; secondhand, via Clothes Minded.

And nothing goes better with a fun outfit post with funky accessories, amirite?

Have there been times when fashion has been therapeutic for you?

The Mon has Mystique

I found this postcard during our Cleveland trip a few weekends ago, at Sweet Lorain.

From what I've learned about postcards over the past few months, this card was printed between the 1930s and 1951, because of its white border, the contrasting colors, and the linen finish. I know it was printed before 1952, when stamp cost was raised to two cents instead of a penny.

I'm not even exactly sure of the location, since I'm pretty sure Lock No. 1 along the Monongahela (often called the Mon) no longer exists.

Regardless, I know the city looks nothing like this now. My guess is this was taken from South Side or Mt. Washington. The current Station Square is on distant left, where a booming railroad station once stood, downtown on the right, with what is now Smithfield Street Bridge connecting them.

This postcard was published by the Pittsburgh News Company, and has no description of the scenery.

Even though a lot of aspects of this card remain mysterious, I'm glad I was able to add a few more Pittsburgh cards to my collection.

The image actually makes me think of this place in South Side, off a running trail that runs parallel to the river. There is this huge cement slab, about 10 by 15 feet, hidden behind bushes off the trail that sits along the river. A lot of people called it the slab. It's kind of like a peaceful little place, where you can have a great view of the city, witnessing chaos and craziness, but be in complete peace because it was isolated from everything. I haven't been there in forever, probably since college, but maybe I can seek it out again.

So who's willing to talk about their secret place? ;)

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

It's that part of summer: Zucchinis are freaking everywhere. To help control the zucchini population, I grate them into delicious bread!

My friend Laura suggested putting blueberries in zucchini bread a few years ago, and I've sworn by it ever since. Now that I've been picking a ton of berries this summer for jam, I wanted to use blueberries for something besides the blueberry lavender jam that's been selling like crazy.

Blueberry Zucchini Bread
Recipe adapted from Mark's grandma

Ingredients:
• 2 cups zucchini, grated
• 3 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup blueberries, set aside
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:
Mix all dry ingredients, flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and baking soda, and then slowly add wet ingredients, except for blueberries. Pour batter into two greased bread pans. Push berries into loaves at varying depths. This is the only way I can get the blueberries to not all sink to the bottom. Bake loaves at 325 degrees for about an hour, until brown and toothpick stuck in center of loaf comes out clean.

(FYI, the original recipe had a nuts or chocolate chip addition optional. I just switched those out for the blueberries.)

Usually we eat one loaf and freeze the other for later. Let me know if you try out the recipe!

Middle School Memories

It may look like your typical fleece sweatshirt, but for me, the memories came pouring in the moment I saw it.

This yellow Old Navy performance fleece was in a more recently stowed box in the attic, about 15 years ago. (As I said before, I found a ton of crap of my mom's from the early to mid 1980s over the weekend.)

I'm pretty sure this was the first thing I bought at Old Navy. It was either this, or flare jeans. Either way, all of the cool middle schoolers had performance fleece. I think it was probably the North Face of middle school in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

I mean, Old Navy even had a commercial jingle for it, so it was legit.

These things were so popular that I'm pretty sure this bright yellow was one of the only colors left in my size. I could never imagine my 11-year-old self digging this yellow number up as my first choice. Regardless, I can still remember wearing the hell out of this.

I guess this means I'll have to start scanning photos from my awkward middle school years, to see if I find any photos where I'm actually wearing it. I don't know if I ever took it off back then, so hopefully those photos won't be too hard to find. ;)

Mom Wears

Some of the things I unearthed in my parents' attic on Sunday, like some of my mom's clothes that she hadn't seen in 30 years, could be akin to dusting off the DeLorean and taking it for a ride.

Mark has been begging to get up to the attic since there are old Hallmark Christmas ornaments up there somewhere. (Along with other holiday items, beanie babies, and old, outdated wedding gifts from the early 1980's.) The weather was pretty mild for a mid-July evening, I thought I would finally muster the courage to go up and do it.

Before long, I was practically knee deep in dust balls and dead stink bugs. Unfortunately for Mark, I only found a handful of ornaments.

However, I benefited a lot more. Not only did I find a few gems from my middle school past; I started to find bin upon bin of my mom's clothes, all labeled in sizes that would fit me. Blouses, rompers, and skirts from the early to mid-1980s. Some things were dated, like windbreakers and turtleneck shirts, but the various rompers and blouses, striped, floral, and patterned, I took a particular interest in, since it wouldn't take much to modernize a lot of them.

There were a few crop tops and novelty screen printed shirts, which I think would be an easy sell at the vintage secondhand shop.

A side note: As I've been sorting through and scanning old family photos, I've been asking my mom about certain outfits she wore back in the day. These photos have some really cute outfits from the 70's and 80's, but nothing I found the other night. (That adorable powder blue romper/coverup, and her senior photo, wearing a blouse with an embroidered smiley face and smiley face buttons.) She never recalled saving anything. The bins full of stuff, however, was undeniable proof she was wrong. Ha!

There may be a good reason why a lot of it was long forgotten about: Several of the garments still had tags on them! Many were from stores closed long ago. Former local department store staples, like Kaufmann's and Hills.

My mom was shocked to see some of the stuff again, but did recall wearing some of it.

"These clothes have been up there your entire life," she told me.

Strange but true.

I think I have enough clothes to sort through to create an occasional series, chronicling the clothes I found of my mom's that I will wear, reconstruct, and sell from my mom's really old, untouched stuff.

Have you ever scored great vintage finds from a relative?

Nostalgic Weekend

A variety of events over Saturday and Sunday culminated in a very lazy, nostalgia-filled weekend for me, including the discovery of several late 1980s and early 1990s kids movies on Netflix, the continuation of my long term family photo digitizing project (after a taking a break for a few weeks), and an impromptu trip to my parents' attic last night.

Photo from disney.wikia.com

When I discovered Honey I Shrunk the Kids was on Netflix, I almost peed myself I was so excited.

I had this movie on VHS, and had watched it so many times as a kid the tape broke. (I think my little sister Ashley did the same thing with the movie Toy Story.) I hadn't watched the movie in full since I was about 10, so it was long overdue to watch it again as soon as I saw it.

For being a Disney movie, there was some "edge" for an American, rated G movie I don't think would be done again now. The neighbor's dad smokes. (WHOA.) And at one point, he even said H E double hockey sticks. And I forgot how fun it looked to use blades of grass as slides. And use an ant as a mode of transportation.

Being the devil that Netflix is, after I finished watching it, they recommended other movies for me that were similar: My Girl, Beethoven, and their sequels. Curse that movie-streaming beast. I put them on my watch list.

Some of my other favorite movies as a kid were Fern Gully and Matilda. I have them both on DVD now.

More on my attic adventure and my photo scanning later this week. What were some of your favorite movies as a kid?

If you liked the Fault in our Stars, you should read The Bone Marrow Queen

I've been wanting to read The Fault in Our Stars for months, ever since it was a book of the month on A Beautiful Mess back in February. (This link has spoilers.)

I finally got the chance to read it. It was beautiful, deep, depressing, self-actualizing. A cancer-ridden love story that's bound to end in tragedy. But instead of tears, more than anything else, I felt guilt. Because I knew a girl who experienced a similar fate. And unlike the book, her story was true, not fiction.

I think the thing that really got me, connecting the book to Melissa, was the Natalie Portman reference. Both Hazel, the main The Fault in Our Stars character, and Melissa, received comments that they looked so similar to the actress.

Honestly, I wish I would've known Melissa better. We went to the same high school; she was in the class under me. We were on the rowing team together, and we both worked as "snack shackers" at the local pool. And I graduated with her longtime boyfriend, Andy. But Melissa and I were never close.

Of course, I was never mean to her or anything, but I did a couple stupid things that 17-year-olds sometimes do, that I end up thinking about those actions once in awhile now, wondering why I was so immature, why I did the things I did that may (or may not?) have affected her indirectly. Hindsight becomes very clear.

I know I should let go of these feelings, because I know better now, I know they're irrational at this point, but it's hard to shake off when there's no closure.

After all, the world is not a wish-granting factory.

I'd rather spare the details of those stupid, trivial incidents anyway, because the point is she wrote a beautiful story about her cancer battle. I've read it a handful of times over the years, and it's visceral, beautiful, sad. It almost gets better as I get older. I cry every time. (Which is almost impossible for me after if I read a story more than once. I think it's because of the way the story ends.)

She was a talented writer. She died in 2010, four years ago next month, if I remember correctly. She was 21.

Anyway, please, if you have a half hour or so to spare, and a box of tissues, you should read The Bone Marrow Queen.

Hot (Weekend) in Cleveland

I'm embarrassed to say that after all these years, I haven't spent a lot of time in Cleveland. Pittsburgh and Cleveland, two rust belt cities that are only about 130 miles apart, have always seemed been rivals. In professional sports; with cultural amenities; with bodies of water.

I also have in my mind the ongoing Portland and Seattle rivalry, in real form and on Portlandia, playing in my brain.

But for my birthday weekend, my 26th birthday, I wanted that to change. I wanted to get the know the city better, not just pass through. And I wanted to give Cleveland a fighting chance, instead of watching and giggling over this YouTube video for the 700th time. In the end, I love and appreciate my hometown through and through, it's MY place, but Cleveland has some gems that are uniquely its own.

Cleveland Museum of Art

Our first stop was the Cleveland Museum of Art; we pretty much drove straight there on Saturday morning. We had considered going to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but between Mark's previous visit being less than spectacular there and steep ticket prices, we opted for the museum, the free option.

The breadth of collections and the beautiful museum building made it worth the visit. We spent the first hour and a half on the main floor, before realizing we still only hit less than half the building, but had to keep moving. The classic Italian and French art, from the 1600s and 1700s, was most impressive to me. There were also a few Van Gogh pieces that were great.

It's definitely worth another visit next time we go.

We were off to eat tacos next.

Barrio

At the suggestion of Midwest Muse, we tried out this very hip taco restaurant. (They have a few locations in town, as well as a food truck!)

Tacos have always been a thing for me, so it was an easy sell. Mark and I got two tacos each, plus we shared a strawberry margarita. The food was great. One of my tacos had pulled pork, and it was magnificent. And the prices were great, too; 20 bucks for everything.

Our bellies were full, and now it was time to look out for some sweet deals.

Unique Thrift

This was voted best thrift shop in the city, according to the Cleveland Scene, but Mark and I weren't very impressed.

I know selections have their good days and bad days, but anything I did see was kinda pricey for a thrift store. Most dresses were $8 to $10, shirts were $6 and up, and there wasn't anything very special.

I think my favorite part of going here was watching one of the employees sing songs that were listed on CDs to a guy looking through them. He was in a wheelchair, and had a boombox next to him, so I guess he was just in need of some good jams. She had a pretty good rendition of "We Will Rock You".

The only thing I got was a ceramic turtle, with a shell lid, and that was $8. I probably paid too much, but I hate leaving thrift stores empty handed. Plus, it was my birthday and turtles are freaking adorable.

Over the weekend, there were other thrift stores we shopped at, and had the same issue. I don't know if it's a Cleveland thing or if Pittsburgh has super cheapy thrift stores, but the price points were all high and the selection was pretty drab. Meh.

On the other hand, past trips to Columbus were way different. Great finds, great prices, great selection. So who knows.

Sweet Lorain

I have to preface this part by saying I don't shop in vintage stores very often. I tend to prefer the grittier thrift stores and estate sales. Also, vintage clothing in bigger sizes that also looks nice is hard to come by, so I get easily frustrated shopping in them.

With that said, while Sweet Lorain was unassuming on the outside, it was spectacular on this inside. This was another one of Midwest Muse's suggestions, although I had also heard of the place thanks to Orchid Grey's post from earlier this year.

Whether it was vintage clothing, old postcards, glasses, plates, photos, artwork, nick-knacks, this place had it. It was wall-to-wall, crowded but well organized. I'm surprised that there isn't a full-time staff member to lead search parties; it's so easy to get lost in here, taking in all of the beautiful things to see.

I'll admit the prices were a little high, (a lot of the dresses ran $50 to $60), but for the convenience of potentially getting some great finds, particularly if shoppers have specific items in mind, the prices are probably justified.

I got a small stack of Pittsburgh postcards here. I was also tempted to get some old family photos, which they labeled in a bowl with "instant relatives", but I resisted. (But it's on Instagram, which is almost as good.)

Flower Child

Yep, we hit a few vintage stores one after the other. This place felt very reminiscent of a vintage shop we went to Columbus last year, but then I looked at their business card when we got home and realized they have another location in Columbus. Ha.

This place also has a ton of stuff. The store layout is a little more spread out, and prices are a little more reasonable than Sweet Lorain. I tried on a few vintage dresses. While they looked great on the hanger, they didn't look so great on me. One of them was put together like a hospital gown. It's the black and white polka dot one on my arm in the picture above. My entire ass and back were exposed wearing it. There weren't even any buttons there, just a tie! Thanks, but no thanks, guys. Haha.

I got a banjo pin here, made from a sea shell. I thought it would be a cute accent piece next time I make it out to banjo night. :) (More details on that below.)

Melt Bar & Grilled

This local chain was probably the highlight of Mark's trip. As the name implies, Melt Bar and Grilled specializes in grilled cheese sandwiches. My co-worker Amy, who recently graduated from Kent State, recommended this restaurant.

The wait was long, both before and after we were seated, (probably because of a huge neighborhood event they were hosting that evening) but it was worthwhile.

Mark got "The Dude Abides", which had fried mozzarella sticks and meatballs. I had a bite and holy crap it was delicious. I just wouldn't want to eat one everyday or anything.

This may just become our regular stop in Cleveland.

(Unfortunately, all of the pictures I took of our glorious sandwiches were super dark. Just use your imagination.)

:(

We stayed in a cheap motel, and everything went to shit Sunday morning, for lack of a better term.

We made plans to go to West Side Market, only to realize they're closed Sundays. Damn. We planned on going to a Cleveland Indians game Sunday afternoon, but a huge storm front came in and we didn't want to risk buying tickets. We tried going to a few flea markets to kill time, but most of them sucked, mostly due to the crappy weather. I also realized we hadn't made it to The Cleveland Flea the day before, which sounds like a great monthly market.

It was a sign that Cleveland is probably just worth a day trip rather than an overnight one. And I should probably plan things out a little better.

So after our series of fails, it was time for brunch.

Beachland Ballroom & Tavern

If Pittsburgh's banjo night and Zenith were to have a love child, I could imagine a place like The Beachland Ballroom's Sunday brunch being the outcome.

(If you need Sparknotes: Banjo night has a very blue collar environment; it's held at an Elks Club every Wednesday. It's exactly what it sounds like: a Banjo Band rehearsal. Zenith is a hip vegetarian cafe and antique shop with a bumping Sunday brunch.)

In addition to a number of locally sourced foods, there's a small vintage clothing and record shop in the basement.

Mark and I ended up splitting the biscuits and gravy, which is apparently made from scratch, according to Cleveland Scene.

The atmosphere of this place left something to be desired, since the brunch drink menu was longer than the food menu, and there was a DJ (I guess it's also a great concert hall), but the food was excellent and reasonably priced.

All in all, I wish our plans went a little more smoothly, but I don't regret the trip. It'll just give me another list of things to do again for next time.

Thanks, LeBron!

One more thing: We got there the day after LeBron James went back to the Cleveland Cavaliers. I'm not a sports fan, especially not a basketball fan, but I even know that's a huge freaking deal.

The town was in a damn frenzy all weekend, which was kinda funny and awesome.

For anyone who's been to Cleveland, was there anything that I didn't mention that's not to be missed for next time?

Sweet 26

For the past few years, my biggest birthday present to myself has been a splurge order from Modcloth.

Luckily for me though, a dress I've had my eye on for awhile went on sale around the time I was placing my order. Not only the dress is long enough, but it's well made and comfortable. I wore it all day on my birthday without any problems.

I just made sure to be extra careful when eating, since it's white and I'm a total klutz.

I was loving the other little details of this fun, celebratory outfit, including a birthday cake ring I bought the other day, making the outfit a little quirky and timely. :) And I really took a liking to the lace back, even though I hated it at first. It gives the mostly conservative dress a little bit of edge. (So does my little green septum ring.)

I was also really hoping I would hear Katy Perry's Birthday song on the radio. Hehe.

Outfit: Dress, Modcloth; Shoes, Modcloth; Beaded Headband, Maurice's (similar); Ring; secondhand, via Clothes Minded; Bag, ModCloth (similar).

How do you strike the balance between edgy and sweet in your outfits?

Cleveland: An Aerial View

I picked this up at a flea market the weekend before Mark and I went to Cleveland. It seems appropriate to have an arsenal of cards from any cool rustbelt city, especially in it's heyday.

I can vouch the place looks a bit different now.

The postcard reads:

"The Main Avenue Bridge connects the Lakefront Road on the east side of the Cuyahoga River with Bulkley Boulevard on the west side of the river. Shown at the left is the Municipal Stadium with a seating capacity of 85,000."

It was also mailed, and postmarked July 10, 1944. Note reads:

Hi Sis

Some (do it?) almost as good as Detroit. We came over on the boat and had a swell time. I am transferred and home 10 days delayed riders.

Love
Hal Eiler

I've been picking up more postcards with notes on the back. I almost appreciate them more because they were sent to loved ones who held onto them, cherished them, maybe even read them over and over again over the years.

Flee to the Cleve Preview

Deciding I wanted a weekend getaway during my birthday, Mark and I headed to Cleveland. It's only about 130 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, so it was an easy choice.

We had an ambitious to do list. We didn't get to go everywhere we wanted, nor did the trip go exactly as we had planned or expected, but there were some good highlights. Most of the best activities revolved around food.

For now, I'll leave you with this goofy picture we took at Flower Child and a map of all the places we wanted to go.

Hoping you all had a great weekend. I'll be posting more of the details later this week!

26 before 27

This Saturday officially marks me being closer to 30 than to 20. Gulp. Yep. It'll be my 26th birthday.

OIt's hard to believe this picture was taken more than two decades ago.

I've become inspired by some other bloggers that have made these goal lists, (like this) so I'm going to list a few things, 26 of them in fact, that I hope to accomplish over the next year.

1. Try out for a sport
It's always been a dream of mine to do roller derby. I'm not sure why. But next time the Steel City Roller Derby Team has tryouts, I'll totally be there! I don't even care if I get my ass kicked.

If that doesn't work out, I would like to join a rowing team again. I rowed throughout high school and in college.

2. Read more
I'm constantly reading news articles all over the interwebs and writing stories. But my leisure reading is seriously lacking. I hope to maybe read 20 books over the next year. It's still not that much, but I feel like it's an attainable goal.

3. Travel to a new city
This is an easy one. I already have a trip booked to Austin next month.

4. Revisit the Pacific Northwest
With friends in Seattle and Portland, this shouldn't be too difficult. I hope.

5. Plan to my passport
I got it in 2007, and have yet to use it. It's a long story about why I haven't used it, but now, I need to use it before the damn thing expires. Plan is the operative word here. So if a European backpacking trip is planned by a year from now, I'll be in amazing shape. :)

6. Get outside more

7. Make and/or reconstruct one piece of clothing a month
This will hopefully motivate me to take my new sewing machine out of the damn box.

8. Knit something that isn't a scarf
Scarves are easy. I want a challenge.

9. Get a pet
I want a dog so badly. But I make take anything at this point: A turtle, a cat, a salamander. Whatever.

10. Buy more secondhand
This is mostly about my closet. While I buy a ton of secondhand housewares, I would say only about 1/3 of my wardrobe is thrifted or bought at buy/sell/trade stores. I'll try to make it half my wardrobe by next year.

11. Send out more snail mail
I used to be great with sending out letters and postcards to family and friends. I've gotten out of the habit of doing it. With my weekly feature, it's pretty obvious that I'm fascinated by mail. If it's worthwhile, I might consider reserving a PO Box to swap mail with other bloggers. :)

12. Host a party

13. Organize a fancy picnic

14. Run a race

15. Go on a road trip

16. Complete another t-shirt quilt
I sewed a Pittsburgh Pirates themed one for Mark ages ago. I have a bunch of rowing shirts that I would like to make into one.

17. Open an Etsy shop
It's always been a random, vague dream of mine.

18. Make an apple pie

19. Experiment more with cooking
I'm a jam canning pro, but how about pickling?

20. Get a tattoo

21. Volunteer

22. Host a major holiday feast

23. to 25. Visit (three) out-of-town friends

26. Love more; appreciate more
I have a tendency to be super critical and self deprecating. It's a bad habit, to say the least.

So. This is a very expansive list. But I thought, at least, why not try? What are some of your personal goals over the next year?

Berry Heaven

I don't think words are really necessary, because these photos are gorgeous. Black raspberry picking fun from the other night at Paskorz Berry Farm. Photos by Cary. I'm in the last photo.

Just froze 20 cups of these delicious little guys, and I have the berry juice stains and thorn injuries to prove it. Ha.

Pittsburgh: 100 Years Past

I'm still stunned I found this at Rogers Community Auction over the weekend. It's a postcard booklet, with locations printed on the front and back. The postmark is dated September 1914. I paid $5 for it.

Allegheny County Courthouse, Downtown Pittsburgh

St. Paul Cathedral, Oakland

Mercy Hospital, Uptown

Allegheny General Hospital, North Side

Heinz Residence, East Liberty

Highland Park Zoo, Highland Park (Now just the Pittsburgh Zoo)

Baseball Park, aka Forbes Field, Oakland

"New" University of Pittsburgh, Oakland

Forbes Field, Oakland

Carnegie Technical School, Squirrel Hill (Now Carnegie Mellon University)

Pennsylvania Railroad Union Station, Downtown Pittsburgh

Hotel Schenley, Oakland (Now the William Pitt Union at the University of Pittsburgh)

There were a few other ways to confirm this is from 1914.

First, Pittsburgh is spelled with an H on these. From the 1890s until 1911, the city was spelled Pittsburg. Also, there are pictured of Forbes Field and Exposition Park in this collection. There was only a small time frame when both existed at the same time: Forbes Field was built in 1909; Exposition Park (pictured in the "Smoky City" photo) was used until 1915.

It's kind of cool that most of the buildings, with the exception of Forbes Field and the Exposition buildings, are still in existence. Not sure about the fate of the Fort Wayne Depot and Pittsburgh Post Office buildings pictured. Other buildings, while still standing, have changed significantly or have been repurposed. For instance, as I mentioned above, the Schenley Hotel is now the student union building at Pitt. Also, the Allegheny Post Office, in North Side, now houses the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh.

One other thing I did: I searched the name Helen Duncan, of Saltsburg, since this booklet was addressed to her. She was born in September 1904, so she received this booklet right around her 10th birthday. And I'm guessing she held onto it for a long time, or collected them. The seller at Rogers had a few other booklets featuring other cities, so she could've collected them. I didn't see whether they were all addressed to her or not.

Lastly, the booklet had postcard photos on the front and back, instead of the traditional open space to write a note. And they were all attached accordion style. That's something I've never seen before.

Have you ever been curious as to what your hometown looked like 100 years ago? How much have things changed over the last century?